Tech and digital businesses are lean, agile, flexible, and willing to try things that may not work. Companies have had to respond and pivot rapidly in this climate; by and large, they have succeeded.
To meet the challenges of the post-COVID-19 recovery, our communities want government, local authorities, and enterprise partnerships to follow those leads in the support it offers in return.
New thinking is required which takes a more holistic approach to procurement, investment, and incentives. Supporting the economy to thrive can’t just be about counting pennies to ensure value for money anymore: it must be about embracing a more adventurous approach, backed by real data, to do what it takes to keep our workers, our companies, and our communities going.
At the conclusion of the conference, the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media, and Sport delivered a closing speech where he announced that government will be publishing a new digital strategy in the autumn - one which reflects our new post-COVID-19 reality.
We do need to have a fundamental look at how we can enable public procurement to do it in a more flexible way, so that that value for money isn't just about cost: it’s about value for money in terms of environmental, social, and local impact.
We know that the UK’s tech and digital sector must position itself to lead not just this strategy’s role in our domestic recovery, but our future trade deals with international partners.
To ensure the greatest return on investment, the support which government offers to businesses must take advantage of the vibrant collaborative networks which already exist between our communities and tech clusters, universities, and business networks.
The Recovery Roadmap Report
The full Recovery Roadmap Report, in association with TechnologyOne, is available for public viewing here.
